As I look out my window, it occurs to me that I do not see regular congestion in residential areas, and even it I do, it is because people are on their way to their business or to someone else’s. Many businesses employ a large number of people. It seems like at least some of them could effectively provide mass transit for their own employees, and there might be a few items of work that could be done on the ride, making the business more efficient.

It has been about a year since the Conversation started. I think it is time some of the documentation is updated.

If Americans/Missourians want a transportation system like Europe then we will have to live like Europeans – on top of each other, i.e. downtown New York/etc.

But the “American” mentality is “I need my space”. The average population density (persons per square mile) in America is significantly lower than Europe. Thus the urban sprawl and all our commuters that whine about traffic. Convince people in American to live in concrete boxes on top of each other and the transportation problems will disappear.

Otherwise people are going to have to start voting for SIGNIFICANT tax increases to pay for these pipe dreams. But of course no one wants to cough up a realistic amount of money.

Next time there is a tax increase for mass transit in KC or StL people should vote yes instead of “no”. However in my eyes the recent votes that did not pass for the mass transit funding boosts merely says that the majority of people do not want (to pay for) mass transit.

Mass transit and alternative forms of travel are not things that can be dictated to people. The attitude of Missouri and America as a whole will have to change dramatically before anything gets done. And a yes there are a few squeaky wheels going on about how much we need mass transit, but the simple fact of the matter is that when it comes down to a vote, the majority of people will not give up, or reduce the use of, their personal vehicles in favor of buses/trains or even helicopters.

Any stimulus funding needs to going into repair and maintenance of our current infrastructure, not expansion. The U.S. Department of Transportation estimates that the current backlog of unfunded but needed road, highway and bridge repairs and improvements is currently $461 billion. All the stimulus money going into new projects will only serve to increase the long term cost and taxes down the road.

The idea of vehicles piggy-backing on trains is intriguing, but I am concerned about congestion at the station. If we had rail cars that were wide enough so we could drive in on one side and out the other going across, that would help. But standard guage tracks would not work for such a train system and would be very expensive to build compared to our current style. I still think some research into how this could work would be good.

I have heard some good things about Portland, Or., too. I heard some time ago that Portland is keeping their rail system ahead of suburban growth. Is this still true? I hope they never lose their example.

Maybe we should turn many of the allies in our cities into golf cart trails. I live close enough to shopping areas to make that interesting to me. But that is an urban planning thing, and other than speak some encouraging words and keeping it safe when interacting with highways and rail, MoDOT should stay out of developing such things.

But what about setting some goals for mass transit. At last count more than 350,000 vehicles cross between St Charles and St Louis Counties on an average day. In my opinion, if a mass transit system fully implemented draws less than 100,000 of them, it is not good enough. How are we going to draw those kinds of numbers?

This is really quite simple – the state does not even have money to maintain what it already owns. In addition, we face declining demand due to an economy that nearly all experts predict will be slow for at least the next 3-4 years, and the worldwide peaking of our oil supply. To expect the trends of the last 40 years to continue in a straight line is complete folly, especially in a state that sees modest population growth at best.

We need to focus exclusively on transportation projects that maximize the efficiency of what we already have. Those could be any number of things such as congestion pricing, toll roads, HOV lanes, far greater transit service (including inner city, commuter, inter-city and rural), bike lanes and pedestrian accommodations.

If we fail to do these things, and focus instead on capacity expansion projects, we will only continue to worsen our financial condition and our economic competitiveness. I suppose for some that puts me in the “wingnut” category, but if being efficient w/ our public dollars and giving people choice in transportation is nutty, than please count me in.

I too echo the sentiments above—more rail that is on time, more transit, more bicycle amenities, more pedestrian infrastructure. In the long run it’s a cheap way to get people around the state. Much cheaper than widening highways and building new roads and it actually has been proven to reduce congestion unlike more and wider roads. See Los Angeles. Adding highway capacity in these tight-money times is just not needed

I especially don’t understand why Missouri needs more highways than Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa combined. Iowa? Would it be possible to assess the need for some of these roads and decommission them? Or just make them into bike routes.

Thanks for letting me comment. I would like to work with MODOT to make transportation around our state work for everyone.

But bicycling and walking are also two of the most cost-effective solutions to transportation problems.

So it’s time for Missouri to enter the 21st Century and turn that situation around.

It costs more up front to build roads that accommodate bicycling and walking but after that we have essentially free transportation that doesn’t pollute.

We could easily **double** the amount of walking and bicycling in Missouri, raising it from half the national average (5% of all trips) right now up to the national average (10% of all trips).

That would mean 10% of all trips taken with no pollution, no emissions, no foreign fuel required, and little or no expense but a huge health benefit.

Better walking and bicycling connections will also facilitate the use of transit–another solution that needs further support from MoDOT.

To do that would require two things:

1. Spending a relatively small (in the scope of MoDOT’s overall budget) surge of the funding for bicycling & walking over the course of 10 years or so to overcome key barriers, fix the biggest deficiencies in the current system, and basically dethrone MoDOT roads from their current position as the biggest impediments to bicycle and pedestrian transportation in Missouri’s cities and towns.

2. Adopt a policy of routinely accommodating bicycling and walking in all new construction and maintenance that takes place in or near populated areas. That includes everything from sidewalks, shoulders & bike lanes, crosswalks, bicycle-safe grates, traffic signals that work for bicyclists and pedestrians, and numerous other small details of that sort.